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Danny Lachman

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Everything posted by Danny Lachman

  1. Wow great film footage - keep pushing that. The first film shot, the close up of the girl's face - when she opens her eyes they are barely exposed, I want to see her eyes and I question why I can't.
  2. That was great. It looks really professional, my critique would be that some of the shots had such a strong visual and other shots seemed have some arbitrary choices in them. Like the opening shot of the forest is beautiful and then you juxtapose it next to the bland interior - but there is a door frame out of focus in half the shot and for me it doesn't see like it's needed if not distracting. Also, maybe it's just me but the static camera doesn't really seem to add to it either - dollies are hard to get a hold of but I think some subtle movement would really tighten up the aesthetic of these images. Again great camera work - especially the girl blowing the bubbles, that's a great shot.
  3. I'm going to find somewhere else to post these, but here is one for now that sort of is the most generic type of shot I want to do.
  4. Not that you'd want this but I've found my 1998 328i sedan to be able to hold a ton of grip gear - though it has to put in properly. I can fit - 12x12 frame, 2 hi hi rollers, 2 combo stands, 2 c stands, lighting box with 5 fresnels, old mole 2k(big), stinger milk crate, tools milk crate, 36x48 flags, 12x24 flags, plenty of fabric(silks, sound blankets, solids, Grifflon) I guess the point is that I'm sort of showing off, and that almost any car can work. I'd agree about the toyota tacoma - great truck. A van would be best.
  5. I'm doing a photoshoot next week in a highschool gym. I'm trying to make it look like a dark homecoming dance, I'll be shooting on large format. I've got a 2k, 650, 300, and two 1000 watt open face soft lights. I've also got silks and overheads and other stuff so keep that in mind. I'm going to be doing 1 - 2sec exposures with a bit of controlled motion blur for some of the background 50s high school dancing teens, while having the main subject hold still. I was told that par can lighting would work well if I shot it on certain parts of the dance floor. I'm considering a kind of "eraserhead" look with strong overhead lighting and deep shadwos on the eye sockets - except for the main subjects where I was thinking of shooting the 2k through a 1/2 grid cloth or 1/4 silk (either 12x12 or 6x6) My biggest concern is making it look dark yet properly lit - I'm afraid of loosing details on parts of the models if I don't light them but I'm afraid to ruin the night look by over lighting them. I'm only shooting about 6-10 models with 2 max at the front of the frame that are important. I won't be shooting the whole gym either - only a portion I'm decorating with streamers, balloons, and hanging stars. Hollistically, it's supposed to look sort of dreary and depressing. 50s teens are having this formal and social culture of finding a "mate" imposed on them in an ugly high school gym, so it's supposed to be kind of awkward and sad feeling. any suggestions would be great - I'll have all day to shoot. http://www.cinecultist.com/archives/2007_0..._eraserhead.jpg http://www.connors.cc.ok.us/gallery/qdig-f...m(2)%201960.jpg I was originally going to do a frontal flash, but it looked to "crappy" with the blown out faces, so I'm looking for something else.
  6. Are you thinking - this kind of light? http://www.offthewagoncollective.com/image...nch/profile.jpg if so I'm really interested in some tips on achieving this look, my guess would be a fresnel with heavy frost or something up top on flood. tips? classy shot eh?
  7. Hi, I just convinced my friend to purchase some "cool lights" specifically these: http://www.coollights.biz/clmf0150-cool-li...esnel-p-63.html http://www.coollights.biz/clmf0070-cool-li...snel-p-120.html http://www.coollights.biz/clsft1-softbox-5...tand-p-105.html I couldn't find any reviews except from the site - and who trusts reviews from the actual website? The price, low wattage + heat, and near day light temp were the reasons for the purchase. I heard these might have a green spike, but I can't imagine that being a big correction problem with a gel. He shoots digital, I shoot film so we plan on using both. I'm under the impression that these aren't that bright, but if the 150w is equivalent to a 650w tungsten that's plenty for us.
  8. I was in a similar position with my 12x12. I had been using baby triple risers with the 4 1/2 heads attached to them (it was ghetto) but it worked and saved me about 200 bucks. But the more you do it the more you'll see you should have gotten the combo stands. You'll start to notice the metal bending when you go up high, the smaller stands won't last. I just purchased two hi hi rollers for $280 a stand from modern studio - they are probably one of the cheapest providers of equipment out there. It's a worth the investment and you'll probably end up needing the bigger stands eventually like I did. Plus you can always use them for other purposes and they won't fuss at all.
  9. also, just fyi - the "silk" china balls don't work very well in terms of diffusing the light. It's like trying to diffuse an hmi by shooting through fabric instead of a diffuser gel. just don't want anybody to waste their money.
  10. http://www.lanternlock.com/ they make high wattage sockets for use in china balls.
  11. Thanks, from watching the videos on youtube and other sites with steadicams and similar products - You can easily see the wobbles, misframing, and other subtle mess ups that ruin the magic of the shots. We plan on practicing a lot with the steadicam rig, and we've got an operator who will be in the shreveport, LA area to give us a few hands on pointers and hopefully help out. Workshop would be nice, but I think with lots of practice, time, prep, and being able to see the end product of good steadicam shooting (shining, elephant, etc.) we should be ok. Thanks for the info!
  12. Hi I've got a friend interested in purchasing a steadicam flyer LE. He wants to be able to have some quick movements in some of the shots, which will involve quick movement - jogging speed. Think Wes Anderson's The life Aquatic where they go to rescue the bank stooge. I've heard that you need a "two stage arm" to do any running. The camera we'll be using will be either the future "scarlett" or the xlh1 with a letus 35mm adapter (11lbs?) Anybody know about running with steadicams and how not to break them?
  13. I'm sure there is a reason but I've never heard of it. Is there a reason you can't put lighting gels in front of a camera lens and use it as a filter?? Those Lee filter sample packs have so many different color correction filters, It'd be great if you could use them.
  14. Naw, I was just saying that different lens manufacturers don't seem to make a big difference on the 35mm adapters. I'm sure the P+S technik is definitely a better designed and quality adapter over the others though.
  15. You should be absolutely fine. You could put cardboard over the lens for flare if you had to, and the focus racking is minimal so you should be good. I've noticed the cinema zeiss, panavision, cooke lenses don't really make a noticeable difference with these 35mm adapters. I'd go for cheap nikons or canons in your case - just save the money instead of buying something you won't be able to see on the screen. my 2cents.
  16. come on somebody has to know something - most of the veterans on this site were doing a lot of camera work in the 90s right?
  17. Hi, I'm looking for suggestions on how to get the look of early 90s fashion photography. I noticed that there are often pale colors with lots of highlights and usually a subtle color scheme. I posted a link as to what I'm going for it's not the first picture brought up but the one that comes up when you press "next" - it's of a bunch of guys lined up - I want to get that sort of golden tone and pale color but I don't know where I should start - my guess was to push slide film but I'd like to use regular negative color film. Thanks! LINK: http://www.filmforum.org/archivedfilms/chopsueyshow.html
  18. Yeah, I was sweating bullets in my garage hammering in grommets. Also, I'm pretty sure my materials are not fire-retardant - that's a good thing you mentioned to be aware of. Tim, you have a good point about trying other fabrics - Really though, I'm still pretty convinced that the industry standard materials are extremely hard to mimic. I wonder where they make the scrim material? Doesn't seem like it is made or used in any other industry.
  19. So I've learned how specific the fabrics used on overheads and flags are. I went to the fabric store and bought some black netting to make a scrim and some polyester type material for a silk. I made 2 6x6 scrims and they both sort of work but not really: I sewed the black netting over itself to make a double - it's kind of funky because it does reduce the light by a stop, but it has this weird wavy/watery looking reflective surface from the material. Sort of like the moire effect a camera gets when looking at fine lines. This surface shows up in the shadows so It's not really good for anything. The "silk" I made is a bit too thick - in broad sunlight it does diffuse the light but it's incredibly darker than a normal 1/4 silk, almost to the point where it'd be hard to use. I suppose I could still use it inside in front of a light. Bottom line is that it seems to be kind of a bad idea to just go buy some cheap fabric to make overheads because the fabric needs to have such specific properties to be useful.
  20. I want to at least have it understood why I think of his work the way I do. In Crewdson's stuff the first thing that I see is the effort put into the photo over the actual idea. I'm mezmerized by the details and lighting but not really by the actual intellectual content in his stuff. I don't think the tension idea behind his stuff is strong. Like I said it seems to be second in line to the technical perfection of his photos, and my personal belief is that he seeks to impress more than to actually express.
  21. The HOW a photo is made isn't important I agree, it just happens that I find Crewdson's methods a bit obnoxious. It's a common and reasonable idea that art can't be judged. But I honestly don't buy it that Crewdson needs to create the photos the way he does from an artistic stance. I definitely think he has a market and is successful in terms of people being impressed by his work - I just don't really see any thing more than a spectacle in his stuff.
  22. I'm not saying people can't use certain equipment at all - I use strobes too as they are incredibly useful. What I'm trying to communicate is that all the strobist's photos look extremely similar aesthetically, and I don't believe they are capable of doing anything more creative than that aesthetic. When strobes are used bare or with umbrellas they have a very identifiable look, and I feel that these strobists aren't really bothering to put any thought into the way their lights light other than exposure and minimal spill control. They aren't controlling their lighting aesthetically. it'd be the same problem if you used any kind of light just look the way it does because your too lazy to manipulate to make sense in the photo. I'm not trying to bash anyone using strobes or any certain equipment, I'm concerned about the intuition of these photographers to create anything further artistically.
  23. In other words what I'm saying is that these strobists are slaves to their equipment. They let their tools dictate the look and feel of their photos. Art is definitely subjective, but you can tell when something isn't making sense - For example: Imagine if a strobist were to light the movie Napoleon Dynamite - think of how flashy and dynamic the lighting would be for such an intentionally dull film. It wouldn't look right - these strobists don't have the capacity to think outside of their realm of lighting.
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